butternut squash and goat's cheese risotto.

Risottos, biryanis, arancini, sushi and paella... delicious dinner ideas all with the same ingredient. Rice! To celebrate National Rice Week (19th to 25th September 2016) I've teamed up with Love Rice to bring you a tasty new recipe to embrace those everyday little grains. It was a tough choice, what with being a sushi fiend and lover of paella, but I've gone for a risotto.

Step one. Begin by roasting your cubed butternut squash and red pepper with a dash of olive oil. Roast for around 30 minutes until softened - although the red pepper may be ready sooner.

Step two. Set aside the red pepper for later and cut up a few tiny cubes of squash. With the rest of the squash, blend until smooth.

Step three. Make the stock with around 150ml of boiling water. Add to the butternut squash and blitz together. This also helps get all the excess bits of squash out of the blender.

Step four. Begin your risotto by cooking the crushed garlic on a low heat for a couple of minutes. Be careful not to burn. Add in the risotto rice and lightly toast for around one minute before adding in a little stock.

Step five. Continue to cook on a low heat, adding the butternut squash stock gradually as it soaks up. Do this for around 20 minutes until the risotto rice is almost cooked.

Step six. Stir through the goat's cheese and red pepper five minutes before the end. Keep a little goat's cheese aside to crumble on at the end. Season to taste.

Step seven. Serve immediately with scatterings of butternut squash cubes, pine nuts, crumbled cheese and a small handful of rocket. Of course with extra lashings of parmesan and black pepper!

What is your favourite rice or risotto dish? What rice recipes will you be making to celebrate National Rice Week? There are lots of recipe ideas over on theLove Rice website just waiting to be made!